Jack:

Jack was born in Thailand and abandoned soon after his birth.  He spent his first 10 years in an orphanage – planting rice fields at 6-years-of-age.  Then, out of nowhere, he was adopted by an Australian family and brought to Adelaide.  During his early high-school years, however, Jack began to experience serious bullying and he eventually dropped out of school.  Not only did he drop out of school, but Jack left home as well – couch-surfing at first, and then living on the streets.  It is only recently that Jack has re-connected with his Australian family and started to sort things out again.  We met Jack and offered him a job at Frewville Foodland.  He then successfully gained employment at City Holden.

Rachael:

Rachael is a young lady who has been forced to grow-up fast.  At 15 she met a guy and began what turned into defacto relationship with a partner who had 2 young children of his own.  Needless to say, her choice of boyfriend didn’t thrill her parents and after a period of constant conflict she moved-out of home and – hey presto… instant mum!  Managing a young family is hard, but when you are young too, it is even harder.  After a while, her defacto partner became abusive and Rachael wanted out.  Without a job, and no money, Rachael had nowhere to go.  When we met Rachael we offered her a job at Pasadena Foodland, and she started earning her own money from ‘day one’.  Now Rachael has choices and recently she moved back home with her mother, started mending some fences, and planning a new future.